Peter Frampton’s Tragic Final Tour

“Do you (you), feel like I do?” – What is ‘IBM’ Disease?

| “Going upstairs and downstairs is the hardest thing for me … “

Frampton reveals rare IBM disease is why his next tour will be his last

| CBS News – Peter Frampton, the legendary guitarist whose 1976 record, “Frampton Comes Alive,” is still one of the best-selling live albums of all time, has revealed he will stop touring because of a rare degenerative muscular disease.

The musician announced Friday his next tour will be his last and opened up for the first time about his condition in an interview with “CBS This Morning: Saturday” co-host Anthony Mason.

Frampton said he has been furiously recording music since he was diagnosed with inclusion body myositis, a rare and incurable inflammatory condition which causes muscles to weaken slowly.

“Between October and two days ago, we’ve done like 33 new tracks,” he said. “I just want to record as much as I can, you know, now, for obvious reasons.”

“Going upstairs and downstairs is the hardest thing for me,” he said. “I’m going to have to get a cane … and then the other thing I noticed, I can’t put things up over my head.”

Frampton was diagnosed about three and a half years ago after a fall on stage. The disease progressed gradually, but sometime around last September or October, after he came off tour, he felt the effects speed up. He started to make plans to leave the road after a particularly bad fall while on vacation with his daughter in Maui.

“What will happen, unfortunately, is that it affects the finger flexors,” he said. “That’s the first telltale sign is the flexors, you know. So for a guitar player, it’s not very good.”

He said he’s already felt the effects in his fingers, but he’s still able to play guitar well right now.

“But in a year’s time, maybe not so good … I’m a perfectionist and I do not want to go out there and feel like, ‘Oh I can’t, this isn’t good.’ That would be a nightmare for me,” he said. Read more.

What is ‘IBM’ Disease?

The first muscles affected in inclusion-body myositis are usually those of the wrists and fingers, and the muscles at the front of the thigh. The muscles that lift the front of the foot also may be affected.

The first muscles affected in inclusion-body myositis are usually those of the wrists and fingers, and the muscles at the front of the thigh. The muscles that lift the front of the foot also may be affected.

IBM is one of the inflammatory myopathies, a group of muscle diseases that involves inflammation of the muscles or associated tissues, such as the blood vessels that supply the muscles. A myopathy is a muscle disease, and inflammation is response to cell damage.

Another word for inflammatory myopathy is myositis. The myo root means muscle, and the itis root means inflammation; so a myositis is an inflammatory muscle disease.

Inflammatory cells invading muscle tissues is one characteristic of IBM, but the disease is distinct from other inflammatory myopathies in that muscle degeneration also occurs. IBM is named for the clumps of discarded cellular material — the “bodies” — that collect in the muscle tissues.

There are some genetic forms of IBM in which, for the most part, inflammation isn’t a major part of the picture. For this reason, these forms are often called inclusion-body myopathy (muscle disorder), leaving out the “itis” in the disease name to reflect the relative lack of inflammation. For more, see Causes/Inheritance.

What are the symptoms of IBM?

IBM causes progressive weakness of the muscles of the wrists and fingers, the muscles of the front of the thigh, and the muscles that lift the front of the foot. Unlike in other inflammatory myopathies, the heart and lungs are not affected in IBM. For more, see Signs and Symptoms.

What causes IBM?

The cause of inflammatory myopathies like IBM is unclear. For some reason, the body’s immune system turns against its own muscles and damages muscle tissue in an autoimmune process. The cause of the muscle degeneration that occurs in IBM is unclear as well.

Genetic forms of IBM can be either dominant or recessive. For more, see Causes/Inheritance.

What is the progression of IBM?

IBM is primarily a disease of men, but women also can be affected. Its onset is typically after age 50 and progression is slow. Currently there are no medications to treat IBM, but the disease isn’t considered life-threatening. Most people with IBM remain able to walk, although they may require a cane or wheelchair for long distances.

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